Compassion: Home health-care nurses, aides sought based on experience, knowledge

Published 8:00 pm, Sunday, March 10, 2013

Community colleges and private health care schools offer CNA and HHA courses that can be completed in 60 days for anywhere from $500 to $800.

Community colleges and private health care schools offer CNA and HHA courses that can be completed in 60 days for anywhere from $500 to $800.

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Compassion: Home health-care nurses, aides sought based on experience, knowledge

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Houston is home to an aging population, an influx of folks moving to take advantage of the relatively low-cost of living, and the world's largest medical center - all of it adding up to a booming home-health care industry.

Victoria Ai Linh Bryant, a pharmacist who founded Ambassadors Caregivers with her physician husband in 2003, said they are hiring weekly to meet the demand. That includes registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, certified nurse assistants and home health aides.

RNs and LVNs handle skilled nursing care, such as wound treatment, administration of medications or shots, feeding or respiratory-tube therapies and post-surgical support.

HHAs often act as a bridge when a client's needs are a little more than family can provide but don't technically require nursing care - things such as bathing, acting as a liaison between the doctor and family, light housekeeping and meal preparation.

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Statistics

Texas was home to 71,220 home health aides in May 2011, with 13,400 in the Houston metropolitan area.

As of September 2011, there were 16,447 certified nurse aides at work in Harris County (though not necessarily in the home-health sector). Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Bryant said community colleges and private health care schools offer CNA and HHA courses which can be completed in 60 days for anywhere from $500 to $800. Nurses at any level, whether registered, vocational or assistant, must be certified and/or registered by the state.

"We will check to make sure they are current and haven't had any incidents of misconduct reported," Bryant said.

Although there are educational courses for home health aides, it's not a requirement to be hired at Ambassadors.

"Sometimes it's more about the experience than the knowledge," said Bryant, adding that applicants must also pass a basic-nursing, "common-sense" written exam. "After we hire, we actually do a match profile because our clients are so diverse. Some have specific requests, not just for personality but size, shape, and sometimes even color. It's very important to them, and we take their needs and requests very seriously."

Jarrah said they are in need of RNs in particular, and being bilingual is a bonus. Home-health care workers must be willing to travel from house to house, he said, and be digitally savvy when it comes to updating and maintaining electronic medical charts.

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, home health aides make up to $17,795 a year or $8.56 an hour. Certified nurse assistants make a little more, up to $22,150 a year or $10.65 an hour.

"Just like any social-service industry, it's not about the money," Bryant said. "It's about compassion."